The Best Motorhome Bedding for a Great Night’s Sleep!

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How to Find Motorhome Bedding That Works for Your Van

Sleeping is such an important part of staying healthy (and sane), and having the right bedding that’s comfortable and aids a good night’s sleep is critical. None more so than in your motorhome, when you want to relax and enjoy your time away.

But motorhome beds do not come in standard sizes, they have bits cut off them, and are narrower or wider than normal… finding the perfect bedding for campervans and motorhomes is a challenge which we’re here to help you with!

What Motorhome Bedding Do I Need?

Motorhome Mattresses

When you buy a new or used motorhome, it will come with a shaped mattress (you may want to replace a used mattress, which we’ll cover later) specially made for your make and model of van.

Most mattresses are foam, which may be laid onto plastic ‘sprung’ fittings, wooden slats or directly onto the wood which is made to build the bed.

Luxury motorhome manufacturers tend to give their products fancy names like ‘seven zone cold foam mattress’ or ‘five zone evopore mattress’ and add memory foam and other stuff to make your motorhome bed more comfortable.

What you get bed and mattress wise when you buy a motorhome is generally directly related to the original cost of the motorhome, with budget brands using low-density foam that offers low mattress depth with little support that compacts quickly.

Replacement Mattresses for Motorhomes

If the mattress your motorhome comes with is uncomfortable, or worn out, you need an orthopaedic mattress, or you just want a new mattress in your new to you used motorhome, then try made2measuremattress. They offer a made-to-measure service and specialise in motorhomes, campervans and boat mattresses – their service and product quality are excellent.

You could also take this opportunity to upgrade your mattress from foam to traditional pocket sprung. This is what we did, and now the fully sprung mattresses in our motorhome are the most comfortable we’ve ever slept on!

Mattress Protectors

Mattress covers can be chucked in the wash with your sheets which will help to keep your topper and mattress in good condition, and a good quality protector can create a barrier against dust mites. In Dreams Bedding has a good range of sizes from 2 feet wide and up to 6 feet 6 inches long, so you should find one that fits – or near enough!

Electric Blankets

In colder climates, you could use an electric underblanket as you have at home, but there are no 12v underblankets designed to be used on top of a mattress, on the market. You could use a regular electric blanket from your bed at home if you were using EHU or an inverter, but we wouldn’t advise leaving it turned on all night as this could drain your battery. Otherwise, get a hot water bottle!

Motorhome Mattress Topper

Do I Need a Mattress Topper?

Mattress toppers are a matter of personal choice, but it may make a foam mattress more comfortable, or help if you don’t have a fixed bed and make your bed up from sofa cushions.

Mattress toppers come in all shapes and sizes, materials and thickness. You can buy a memory foam topper which is custom-made for your motorhome bed shape or made-up sofa bed – be aware that memory foam retains more body heat than other materials and may not be the best idea for touring Europe in summer.

A good alternative to memory foam is the made-to-measure Zonesleep mattress topper, made up of three zones of two-dimensional knitted textiles and one hi-tech layer of breathable Tencel, designed to provide support and improve air circulation. We haven’t tried these, but as a lady of a certain age, I’m tempted!

A standard sized feather or microfibre topper can usually be made to work on most bed sizes with a bit of jiggery-pokery, and if you have to wrap some of the topper over the edges, it just makes your bed even more comfortable.

We used a breathable Silentnight Airmax Topper before we swapped out mattresses and would highly recommend it. We found it kept its shape and depth for several months, then regained all its puff once washed.

Duvet, Blankets or Sleeping Bag?

Duvet

We much prefer a proper duvet or quilt in the motorhome, but we travel full-time so home comforts are important. Ship Shape Caravans make different size and shaped duvets for island and corner cut beds, but we have never felt the need to have anything other than a standard size.

We have 10 tog quilts and have found them warm enough all year round in Europe, apart from one night motorhoming in Morocco in January, when it dropped below freezing and we had no gas…

Perhaps carry a blanket of some sort as well, if you plan to go off adventuring!

Blankets

A good alternative to a sleeping bag or duvet is a sleeping bag liner, which effectively gives you a top and bottom sheet, with a camping quilt or lightweight blankets for cooler nights.

This is a perfect combination if you’re travelling in warmer countries, especially if you pick a soft cotton liner like this 2-in-1 sleeping bag liner, and a cosy but lightweight camping quilt like down camping quilt, which packs down into a small stuff sack for easy daytime storage.

Sleeping Bag

The ease of a sleeping bag is great if you take short trips or make your bed up nightly. You don’t have to try and find a sheet for the awkward shape, and they’re quick to get out at night and easy to store away first thing in the morning.

Gone are the days of the bright blue polyester sleeping bags I remember as a child, where the zip dug in and which always felt prickly and made me hot and sweaty.

These are our favourite sleeping bags and options to give you that crisp, clean sheet feel:

What About Duvalay?

The Duvalay luxury sleeping bag option is popular because it’s easy and addresses all your needs in one – memory foam topper, hollow fibre or microfibre quilt in a choice of weights, duvet cover, sheets and pillow cases.

There’s no zip and you have freedom to move around, which can be difficult in a traditional sleeping bag.

All of their sleeping bags are designed to roll away easily for storage and there’s no need to worry about bedding size. The Compact is the most basic, with the Comfort option having a thicker base. Their Freshtec Cooling bag claims to have better airflow.

But, they are expensive, with the cheapest and most basic (they only come in single size) starting at over £120. There’s no doubt the materials are top quality and they do offer free shipping, but I would try and hold out for a sale or special offers if possible.

Fitted Sheets for Motorhome Beds

Probably the most challenging bedding to find is motorhome sheets that actually fit! Beds in vans come in all shapes and sizes, from queen-sized island beds to regular double beds, french beds where the corner is cut off, twin beds, and narrow bunk beds. The list is endless and standard sheets just won’t work.

A bed and mattress in one motorhome will inevitably have different measurements and corner radius or cut-offs to another motorhome, meaning that to get the correct fit in a specific size, you need to have them specially made.

We recommend Ship Shape Caravans for caravan bedding and fitted bedding for motorhomes. They have a catalogue of most motorhome manufacturer’s models and specifications.

If you’re kitting out a van conversion with bespoke beds or they don’t have your bed measurements to hand, you can send them in and they will make a custom size template for your camper bed sheets.

They offer a range of standard sizes and made to measure fitted sheet sets in easy care or 100% cotton – having ordered from them ourselves, we recommend spending the extra cost for the cotton sheets, which have a 200 thread count.

They also provide pillowcases in the same range of fabric and colours, which we also ordered as we (ok, I) like things to match!

You could check out a few other motorhome bedding suppliers – the best known are Jonic, Freedomis Snuglux, and Caravan Bed Linen who specialise in Swift and Baily motorhomes.

Tuck Me Under started with motorhome duvet covers which are adapted so the duvet can’t go all the way to the edges of the cover, leaving spare cover which can easily be tucked under. Now they make a whole range of bedding, including the most luxurious sheet in Egyptian cotton sateen 1000 thread count, soft bamboo sheets and good old-fashioned flannel sheets.

We tried other options when our expensive made-to-measure bed linen didn’t fit when we changed motorhomes 🙁 and these are our favourites:

Using Regular Bedding

If you’re on a budget, a regular sized duvet and regular sheets can work. Flat sheets are best as they can be tucked under curves and cut-off corners, and bed sheet straps can be used to get a better fit. Or try Ikea’s Dvala sheets which have elastic the whole way around, not just the corners.

Motorhome Beds with Infills

Fixed singles in motorhomes often come with a middle bit that fills in the gap – sometimes this narrow strip of foam is in one piece, and sometimes two.

Twin singles are designed like this so that there is a recess between both beds to allow for a small ladder or stairs to climb into the raised bed, as this layout accommodates a large garage underneath.

We’ve never been able to find a fitted sheet to fit this awkward-shaped little mattress and having one made is costly for such a small bit of foam. Initially, I did a DIY job with a sheet and used safety pins to hold elastic in place to pull the sheet taut. Inevitably – needlework is not a skill of mine – it fell apart in the wash!

Then I discovered these bed sheet holder corner straps. These nifty little gadgets are designed to keep sheets tight on the bed and gave me the taut and tidy look and snug fit I wanted …ok, craved.

I bought the smallest top sheet I could in the same colour way as my other sheets – but not fitted as the elastic tends to bunch up too much – and then made up the infill with hospital corners, using the straps to keep everything in place.

Since then, I have discovered that Jonic does a three-piece fitted sheet set for twin singles with a middle insert in percale 50/50 polycotton, 100% cotton and 100% brushed cotton, which has a soft and cosy micro flannel feel.

Themed Motorhome Bedding Sets & Decorative Pillows

If you want to take it a step further and go all out, then these motorhome and campervan bedding ideas are great fun.

Whatever bedding you choose for your motorhome, enjoy your travels and the view from your comfy bed when you wake in the mornings!

Are you looking for more motorhome tips & tricks? Check out these top posts…

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